"Grace is about people who are on a journey that we watch," says choreographer Ronald K. Brown.  "The dancers' bodies deal with the choreographic material and their travels in different ways as we view their movements that continue to shift. My basic idea is that the people are living their lives without acknowledging the 'grace' that surrounds their individual existences, which is of course a reference to the title of the dance."

"It follows suit with the whole sensibility I have been dealing with choreographically. Ultimately, most of my work is about people trying to get to the temple of God, or trying to be god like - to perform the work here on Earth that we are supposed to do. Through all of our personal adversity there are certain lessons that keep us on track."

"I wanted to use music that was from a different time but that also had a sense of the contemporary in it. I needed something that was American and traditional, so Duke Ellington's Come Sunday gave me the spiritual grounding that the dance needed. Roy Davis' music is house contemporary, but it feels timeless as well, and it segues into the Kuti music which is Afro-Pop. Kuti's music has all the influences from the African-American tradition and at the same time it is coming out of West Africa. That piece talks about warrior folks who live in the city and are taking care of business, which is in line with what I wanted the dance to be about."

"All of my work has a connection to the dances that I have choreographed before, however I'm continuing to move forward. If it connects with the energy of the folks watching and participating, that is definitely the bottom line because it will lift one's spirit and stirs one's soul."